A Line in the Sand by James Barr The Anglo-French Struggle for the Middle East, 1914-1948

“A provocative history . . . helps us to understand why the Arab spring is so important and valuable.”—David Ignatius, National Interest

In the twentieth century, while fighting a common enemy in Europe, Britain and France were locked in a clandestine struggle for power in the Middle East. From the first agreement to divide the region between them to the birth of Israel, A Line in the Sand is a gripping narrative of the last gasp of imperialism, with tales of unscrupulous double-dealing, cynical manipulation, and all-too-frequent violence that continues to the present day.

Unrated Critic Reviews for A Line in the Sand

Kirkus Reviews

Reluctant allies against the Germans, the British and French had to divide the Ottoman spoils, and the agreement essentially “drew a line in the sand” from Acre to Kirkuk, the north falling under French protection and the south to the British.

Christian Science Monitor

Much is always made of the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 in which the British and the French secretly connived to split the Middle East like a ripe melon, dividing what is now Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordon, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank between them.

The Jewish Chronicle

Barr quotes the MI5 man as reporting, from top-secret sources, that it was known that "French officials in the Levant have been clandestinely selling arms to the Hagana and we have received recent reports of their intention to stir up strife in Palestine."

Artswrap

American Diplomacy

While British soldiers were still fighting and dying to liberate France, the nascent French government, barely six months old, was secretly backing Jewish efforts to kill British soldiers and officials in Palestine.